Dominick Liberatore

Professor Kiefer
Political Science
22 April 2015
Oswegos Local Elections
This month, Oswego held elections on the 7th to fill the positions of many local
government jobs. While many candidates for positions such as Park District
Commissioner and Public Library Trustee ran unopposed, the one spot available for the
Village President and three spots available for Village Trustees were heavily contested.
The heavy competition for these local positions most likely has its roots in the fact that
current two term Village President, Brian LeClercq, has chosen not to seek a third term
in office. According to LeClercq, It's been an honor and a privilege to serve the people
of Oswego, but I am a believer in term limits, and I figured I should put my money where
my mouth is (qtd. in Jack). While Oswego politics is technically non-partisan, LeClercq
ran as a republican for the 49th State Senate seat in 2012.

After much confusion about deadline issues and when to apply was cleared up,
after the deadline was changed last year, the two biggest contenders for LeClercqs
soon vacant position ended up being Gail Johnson, and Anthony Tony Giles. Both
Johnson and Giles have a long history with community government, and both were
currently seated members on the board of Trustees. Giles is also a teacher at Oswego
East High School, while Johnson has owned a small business since 1997, Face to Face
Communications and Training.

Though Oswego Politics are supposed to be non-parisian, Giles, like LeClercq,

has previously run for State Senate as a Republican and lost. A political affiliation for
Johnson is either not as apparent or it does not exist. Interestingly enough, though the
Village President and Village Trustees are all elected separately, it was very clear to see
through Facebook posts and campaign propaganda that both Johnson and Giles were
attempting to run as a full package with three trustees that they were each supporting.
Essentially, the Village Presidents were hoping for an almost straight-ticket vote,
though everyone on the ticket ran as independent. Gail Johnson supported Ryan
Kauffman, Karin McCarthy-Lange, and Joe West, while Tony Giles supported Brian
Thomas, Rasma Motykowski, and Diane Selmer.

The prime issues facing the candidates this election cycle were almost all budget
related. Although both candidates and their hopeful trustees wanted to bring more
businesses to Oswego they were split as to whether or not tax breaks and special
incentives should continue to be given out to prospective companies. When it comes to
a stance on the issue Giles believes that the time for Oswego to offer incentives is in the
past as the community is large and spends a great portion of money. Giles believes that
low taxes and a balanced budget are responsible for bringing fifty-two business to
oswego last year (Girardi). On the other hand, opponents such as Johnson point to
missed business opportunities for the city like the Sams Club that recently opened in
Montgomery as opposed to Oswego (Scott). This is an important and dived issue
among the voters because many small business owners fear the local government will
pick favorites and offer incentives to know industry leaders because they will likely
succeed and bring in an almost guaranteed stream of revenue, which would in turn

likely kill some small businesses trying to compete without special incentives. Others
are in favor of granting incentives as a way to bring in well known retailers and
restaurants for more shopping and employment options.

Another hot topic for debate this election cycle focused upon what to do with
certain budget surpluses left over from LeClercq and how they could be utilized
effectively in addition to a possible sales tax increase, to improve roads and or build a
new police station for the city (Scott). Those in Giles camp were highly opposed to a
sales tax increase which would bring the city of Oswego up to par with the sales tax
rates found in neighboring cities like Yorkville and Montgomery. Brian Thomas, a trustee
candidate running with support from Giles had this to say on the issue: To me, we're
taxed enough. The property taxes are the highest in the state (qtd. in Scott). On the
other side of the fense, a trustee candidate supported by Johnson, Ryan Kauffman
claims that:

We don't have a lot of fat or excess spending going in our budget right now," she
said. "I agree with some of the candidates: the current board has done a good
job of tightening their belts. I don't know how much tighter they can go. So we
may have to look at a sales tax increase to only come up to where our
surrounding communities are. It's not the popular choice, I agree. (qtd. in Scott)

Other issues were present, but they were not as popular as the economic topics.
Many wondered what each candidate had envisioned for a large empty lot in the
downtown area. Others questioned how each candidate could revitalize the utter failure

of Oswegos Park-N-Ride system, or even bring the Metra to the city. Most coverage of
the elections was done by local news outlets like Only Oswego, Beacon News, and the
Ledger-Sentinel. Almost all candidates used Facebook as their primary campaigning
platform, and very few had websites dedicated for it. Although information on the local
Village President and Village Trustee candidates is relatively hard to find, information on
candidates running for other offices, especially when running unopposed is nearly
nonexistent.

As April 7th began to approach there was no clear winner in sight. The day of,
each candidate was fervidly trying to rally their base and simply get everyone to vote.
Social media, for those that followed the candidates, was full of promising messages
and offers to drive anyone to their polling place. In the end however, only one of the two
candidates could win the office of Village President, and only three of the six candidates
could become Village Trustees. After all 28 precincts had been counted Gail Johnson
had received 52% of the vote putting her ahead of Tony Giles with 47% (Girardi).
According to election results on the county clerk website only 3,545 votes were cast for
Village President, representing just a small fraction of Oswegos 32,000 plus community.
Upon winning, at her election party, Johnson said:
We felt momentum in the final few weeks of the campaign. As we watched the
results come in, it was nerve-wracking how close the results were. We are going
to take a look at all of our voters. Although we won, we represent everyone. (qtd.
in Girardi)
Along with Johnson, the three Village Trustee candidates she supported also won office
with a combined vote percentage of nearly 56%. Karin McCarthy-Lange received the

most votes as a trustee candidate while Ryan Kauffman received the second highest
amount, and Joe West placed third.
After observing the small voter turnout first hand it is astounding how little people
participate, and even more astounding how many more still complain about the quality
of the citys infrastructure. Even so, local politics is hard to follow. There were no colorful
news pundits screaming on the television in support of Giles or Johnson, and there
were no televised debates with elaborately lit stages. Instead, local politics resides in
the rarely read local papers, and hard to find campaign sites, while the debates take
place in Little White School Houses with little to no media coverage and no air
conditioning. I wish there was an answer to remedy the poor public participation, but
until then a small minority of people will decide the fate of most local elections.

Works Cited

Girardi, Linda. "Gail Johnson Elected Oswego Village President." Aurora Beacon-News.
The Beacon-News, 7 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Jack, Steven. "LeClercq Won't Seek Another Term as Village President | Only Oswego."
LeClercq Won't Seek Another Term as Village President | Only Oswego. Only
Oswego, 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Scott, Tony. "How to Pay for Street Upkeep." Ledger-Sentinel. Ledger-Sentinel, 12 Mar.
2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.